JioStar hires three senior leaders for entertainment digital ad sales

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MUMBAI: Three hires, three specialist briefs and one clear message: JioStar wants a sharper edge in digital advertising. The company is expanding its <a href="https://comicvibe.com/jiostar-strengthens-<a href="https://comicvibe.com/ideas-entertainment-and-bookmyshow-launch-the-drama-utsav-mumbai-2026/” title=”Ideas Entertainment and BookMyShow launch The Drama Utsav Mumbai 2026″>entertainment-digital-ad-sales-with-three-senior-hires/” title=”JioStar strengthens Entertainment Digital Ad Sales with three senior hires”>Entertainment Digital Ad Sales team, bringing in three senior leaders to separately drive branding, commerce and content IP-led revenue as it builds deeper capabilities across key digital growth areas.

Sudhir Shukla has joined as executive vice president, Entertainment Ad Sales, Digital (LCS Branding). Rachit Jain has joined as senior vice president, Entertainment Ad Sales, Digital (LCS Commerce). Junaid Khwaja has joined as senior vice president, Entertainment Ad Sales, Digital (Content IPs).

The appointments were communicated internally by Bhaskar Ramesh, head, Entertainment Sales, Digital, JioStar. He said the additions were aimed at strengthening LCS Branding, LCS Commerce and Content IPs, bringing the company closer to customers through specialised focus, accelerating innovation and unlocking the next phase of growth.

The hires come with changes in responsibilities within the digital sales team. Amrita Bharadwaj will report to Shukla and lead all CPG, while Amandeep Mittal will continue to report to Ramesh with a focus on Mid-Market. Aashish Gupta will now report to Ramesh and lead Digital PRS. Shubhra Sethi, Bikash Kundu and Vivek Modi will continue to support both the Digital and Linear Entertainment Revenue teams.

Sudhir Shukla joins to lead LCS Branding

Shukla brings more than two decades of experience across CPG, retail, online businesses and media. He was most recently chief operating officer and P&L head at More Retail. Before that, he held leadership roles across Cars24, Star Sports and Mondelez.

In the internal communication, Ramesh said Shukla had demonstrated a strong track record of scaling businesses, building brands, driving advertiser partnerships and delivering sustained growth across large and complex operating environments. Shukla holds a PGDBM in finance and marketing from XLRI Jamshedpur and a B.E. in electronics engineering from VESIT, Mumbai University.

Rachit Jain to lead LCS Commerce

Jain joins JioStar with more than 20 years of experience across digital advertising, technology and media. Most recently, he co-founded Sparkonomy, an AI-led platform serving content creators. Before that, he led Meta India’s Mid-Market and Growth Businesses, where his responsibilities included revenue strategy and client partnerships across a portfolio of high-growth advertisers.

Jain also spent more than a decade at Google across India and the US, working across industry sales, video monetisation, product strategy and cloud solutions. The internal note highlighted his experience in building revenue businesses and advertiser relationships across technology and digital advertising platforms, as JioStar strengthens its commerce-focused digital sales capability. Jain holds a PGDBM from MDI Gurgaon and a B.Tech in information technology from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.

Junaid Khwaja takes charge of Content IPs

Khwaja joins with more than 18 years of experience across media and technology platforms. He was most recently senior vice president and national sales head at Dream11. Before that, he led agency partnerships and media sales for Amazon Ads India. His earlier experience includes stints across Amazon, Twitter

Ramesh said Khwaja’s experience across these businesses had given him deep expertise in advertiser partnerships, platform monetisation, content-led solutions and scaling sales organisations. Khwaja holds a PGDM in business management from Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai, and a B.E. in computer engineering from K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai.

The logic of the line-up is easy to read. Digital advertising is no longer one big pot of inventory. Brands want help with building awareness, advertisers want a route from screen to shelf, and content owners want their biggest properties turned into revenue. By giving each of those jobs to a dedicated leader, JioStar is betting that focus will beat breadth. The résumés fit the plan: Shukla knows the buyer’s side of CPG and retail, Jain has sold to high-growth advertisers at Meta and Google, and Khwaja has run sales at Amazon Ads and Dream11.

Just as telling is what has been left joined up. Some roles stay aligned across digital and linear entertainment revenue teams, a sign that JioStar wants specialist depth without losing the advantage of a combined offer. The three appointments come as the company strengthens specialised leadership across branding, commerce and content IPs within its Entertainment Digital Ad Sales business. If the strategy works, advertisers will find a sharper conversation waiting at every door.